After suffering two dramatic losses in the past two weeks, Cedevita Zagreb ended up on the winning end of another thriller, edging Besiktas Integral Forex Istanbul 55-58 on Wednesday. This road victory, Cedevita’s second in the Last 32, improved it to 2-2 in a share of the second place in Group P, while Besiktas drops to 3-1 in the first place. Cedevita opened the second quarter with a 3-19 spurt to take control of the game. The visitors led 27-35 at halftime, but Besiktas rallied in the third before taking 45-44 lead after the first possession of the fourth quarter. But Tomislav Zubcic and Jusuf Nurkic got the visitors back in front, before Allan Ray blocked a potential game-tying three-point attempt in the dying seconds to give Cedevita a crucial win. Cedevita had no scorers in double figures in victory. Ray and Luka Babic each scored 9, while Zubcic, Nurkic and Delas had 8 apiece. Chris Lofton netted 11 points for the hosts, Ryan Broekhoff had 10 points plus 7 rebounds, while Colton Iverson also scored 10 in defeat.

Baskets were few and far between from the start of the game. Muratcan Guler scored a lone basket from the floor for the hosts, while Ivan Ramljak, Goran Suton and Nurkic helped Cedevita to 7-8 lead. Caner Topaloglu hit a triple for Besiktas, and after Iversons’ dunk, Lofton nailed a triple for 15-12 after the first quarter. Delas hit a three-pointer to start the second, and assisted Zubcic for a jumper for Cedevita to regain the lead, 15-17. But the visitors did not stop there, as basket-plus-foul from Babic, a dunk from Zubcic, and back-to-back triples from Babic and Ray opened 18-31 margin. Besiktas cut the deficit just before halftime, with Lofton hitting a triple for 27-35 at the break. In the third quarter, Delas kept Cedevita’s lead in the double digits, and Besiktas did not score from the floor in 5 minutes before Broekhoff hit a jumper for 30-41. He soon added a triple, and Tomislav Ruzic hit a pair of buckets, helping cut it to 42-44 at the end of the third. Guler’s triple at the start of the fourth gave Besiktas 45-44. Ray and Zubcic scored for Cedevita’s 48-50 lead, and Babic buried a triple for 49-55. Broekhoff made a put-back, but Nurkic answered from close range for 51-57. Besiktas kept its hope alive with Lofton’s fastbreak triple and 55-57, and after Suton split free throws, the hosts had 16 seconds to try to tie it, but Ray blocked Doron Perkins’ three-point attempt, securing the win for the visitors.

Head Coaches

KANDEMIR, AHMET

Besiktas Integral Forex Istanbul

"Our fans were great today. We couldn't organize the game as we wanted in the first half. Injury of Buckman effected us negatively. We missed so many easy layups. Now, we want to qualify first in the group with the victory against Lietuvos Rytas. We will try to do our best to beat Rytas at home."

KANDEMIR, AHMET

Besiktas Integral Forex Istanbul

"Our fans were great today. We couldn't organize the game as we wanted in the first half. The injury to Buckman affected us negatively. We missed so many easy layups. Now, we want to qualify first in the group by beating Rytas. We will try to do our best to beat Rytas at home. "

REPESA, JASMIN

Cedevita Zagreb

"We made up margin of two points that we lost at home last week. So, we are back in contention. There is a lot more to play, but we control our own destiny, and that is the most imporant. We played tough, with solid defense. There was lots of mistakes, but I can only congratulate my players for their effort, and what they showed today."

Players

NURKIC, JUSUF

Cedevita Zagreb

"It's been a while since I've seen this kind of atmosphere. Congratulations to the home fans, it is a pleasure to play in this kind of atmosphere. We played a great game, as a team, and we pulled it out together. After we got schooled by Cibona Zagreb in the Adriatic League last weekend, we had to give all we got, and we did. If we play together like today, we can beat anybody. We proved that several times this season already."

DELAS, ANTE

Cedevita Zagreb

"The mosts important is that we won. It was a tough game in a tough atmosphere, and we pulled out a victory. We all fought hard, and deserved to win. I think this was one of our best defensive games all season. We played like man, tough, but that was the only way we could win."